deck tennis

a game played on a small court, usually on the deck of a ship, in which a ring, generally of rubber or Manila rope, is alternately thrown and caught, using only one hand, by two opponents standing on opposite sides of a net.

[1925-30]

* * *

▪ sport

      game for two or four players, designed for the limited space aboard ship and also played as a garden game. It combines lawn tennis and quoits. A rubber ring, or quoit, is thrown across a net. It must be caught using one hand and returned immediately with the same hand from the point of catch. The size of the court, usually 30–40 feet (9–12 m) long and 10–15 feet (3–4.5 m) wide, the size of the ring, and the rules of play are not standardized.

      In a typical game the serve is made first from behind the right-hand court into the court diagonally opposite and then alternately into the left and right courts. A point is gained by that side whose opponents fail to return the ring into the first side's ground. If the ring lands in the neutral zone (3 feet on either side of the net) or outside the court, the thrower loses the point. Points are scored only by the server; or, by agreement, the server may continue to score until he loses a point, at which time his opponent may either take the point for himself and allow the server to continue or forgo the point and take over the service. The scoring may be as in tennis: 15, 30, 40, game; or the first side to score 15 points wins a set—a match can be two of three or three of five sets. In the case of a 14–14 score, it is necessary to win two successive points to take the set.

      The game is sometimes known as ring tennis when played indoors or with the higher net—5 feet 8 inches instead of 4 feet 8 inches or 5 feet.

* * *